


pick your poison

by sadie18



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: AU, Bisexual Izzy, Bisexual Magnus, Demisexual Raphael, F/F, F/M, Gay Alec, Gen, Good Jonathan, M/M, Pansexual Meliorn, Pansexual Simon, aromantic and asexual lydia, aromantic sebastian, assassins!au, gay bat, good sebastian, lesbian maia, mundane AU, straight ragnor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 10:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11919405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadie18/pseuds/sadie18
Summary: A diplomatic meeting becomes a loving engagement.Two groups of assassins, flown to Italy for a wedding.And an assassination.Of course.





	pick your poison

**Author's Note:**

> And the vacation begins.  
> Alec is intimidating yet flustered and Magnus puts up a good fight.  
> -  
> my tumblr is @stcrdusting and @mcgncsbane :)

"Izzy! We're going to miss the plane if you don't hurry up!"

Alec sighed as he called for his little sister  _again._ Even Jace was ready and he took  _even longer_ than her.

The headquarters of their gang, known to them as the Institute, was bustling with activity. At 3am. Maryse and Luke had tried to get the earliest flight possible to attract the least attention possible for the two (former) rival gangs. They had booked an entire plane to themselves.

 _Good._ Alec thought.  _I can be as far away from the other gang as I need._

Their gang was generations old, in Brooklyn, New York. The Angels, as they were known, were assassins, quickly killing anybody in New York that needed to be killed. They had killed Axel Mortmain, a manufacturer in Harlem that was cheating the population and taking money by the thousands, just a week before. It was a quick, smooth process, and everyone in the gang had their own role.

There was another gang of assassins in New York though, the Downworlders, led by Luke Garroway. Also generations old, had had rocky relations with the Angels for years and years and years. That is, until Luke and Maryse got together. 

 _Romantically_ , Alec thought with disgust.

And now, a year after the diplomatic meeting that had brought Maryse and Luke together, they were engaged to be married, and was having their wedding in  _Italy._ Italy!

The thing was, Italy wasn't even their choice. They also had someone there to kill.

Valentine Morgenstern. The man who had run away from New York after his drug operation had been found, and had run off to Italy.

So it was a wedding,  _and an operation._ Alec was pissed off.

Which meant that the gangs now had to act civilly around each other for around two weeks. 

"Izzy, it's a plane ride!" Simon called. He had on a pair of sweatpants and a raggedy sweater, but Alec had no doubt that he had at least 4 different types of knives and a gun in there somewhere. Maryse had an in with the airport, which meant that body scans and bag detection was fine for them. Even though Simon wasn't normally in the field, as the Institute's best hacker, but he could still slice open a neck with a knife if needed. Simon's best friend, Clary, and the daughter of Valentine Morgenstern, was next to him, her large bluetooth headphones and hood covering most of her bright red hair. She had run away from her father with her brother Sebastian when she was 13, and had been with the Angels ever since. She was also Jace's girlfriend, and could pick any lock in the world. She was pretty good with a paintbrush as well.

Lydia, looking as diplomatic as ever, had on the accustomed black, but Alec could see the small glint of a knife in her combat boots. He poked her and pointed at the exposed weapon, and she covered it up quickly.

"Jesus Christ, I'm going up." Sebastian said grumpily, yanking out his earbuds. "We are going to miss the plane and Maryse is going to murder us with her new supplies."

Sebastian was Clary's brother and was angry, vicious, and played a mean game of Mario Kart, but he was one of the best assassins in the Institute. He was also Isabelle's best friend and was the only one who was willing to actually break her makeup routine.

"No need!" Isabelle called. "I'm coming!" She bounced down the stairs, lifting her two duffels down as well. "You all look like shit."

Alec swore everyone rolled their eyes simultaneously. He looked down at himself. Black combat boots, black jeans, black shirt, black hoodie. The hoodie had a bit of dark blue on it, but that couldn't be helped.

"OK, then we have to  _go!_ " Jace yelled, and he whistled for a cab outside.

\--

"Magnus! Hurry the holy fuck up. Luke will murder us if we miss the plane. He's been at the airport with Maryse  _fucking_ Lightwood for an hour already!" Ragnor bellowed from outside his door. "It's a plane ride, Magnus!"

Magnus sighed, but didn't dare roll his eyes, in case he missed his eyeliner. He flicked his wrist and saw that his wings were satisfactory.

 _Good enough for 2am._ He thought, cringing at how early he had to wake up. He flinched at the pounding of the door. "Raphael's gonna come as well if you don't hurry!"

"Calm your shit, Ragnor, let me put in my guns." Magnus said, opening the door with a flourish, and going to his cupboard. He had already packed his best weapons, so he just pick a small pistol and a few small knives in his shoes and his jeans.

"Seriously, Magnus? You're wearing Gucci for a plane? And is that glitter in your hair? Red streaks? You do know that Raphael has his least dressy jacket on, right?" Ragnor complained at him. Magnus rolled his eyes. 

"The leather one? At least he's not wearing a hideous sweatshirt like you. And I can bet money that Maia, Bat, Meliorn are wearing some hideous sweatpants or something." 

"They are Magnus. Because it's a  _fucking plane."_

"Your filthy mouth has no place here, my friend. And don't you dare talk to me about my hair." Magnus fired back, pointedly looking at Ragnor's green strands. He fastened his last knife, hidden cleverly in his belt, and grabbed his duffel bags, and flounced down the stairs of the Dumort.

The Dumort was once a small little inn in Manhattan, was now headquarters to the Downworlders. It was old and strong and had a small team with many contacts. 

"You do know it's a plane ride, right Sparkles?" Meliorn said, glaring at the glitter in his hair. Magnus stuck out his tongue immaturely.

"It's a plane ride to Italy with beautiful men and women, where we will then assassinate Valentine Morgenstern and watch as the Alpha gets married and joins us with another gang." He said dramatically. "Sounds like something worth dressing up for."

The Alpha was Luke's operation name. It was what all their contacts knew him as. Everyone had an operation name. They were stupid at first, but they realized how important the anonymity of their gangs needed to be. Magnus knew that Maryse Lightwood went by the Inquisitor. An intimidating name, everyone related to the New York gangs knew who she was. Her and her infamous children and team of assassins.

"Whatever, Mags. Let's go, we're going to be late." Maia yelled from outside, whistling for a cab.

\--

Alec felt a little better after one venti black coffee, but was still tired and bored as they waited for Luke to pick up his team from the airport entrance.

"You will all be nice, you hear me? This trip will not be ruined by some petty conflicts. Valentine needs to be killed." Maryse said sternly. They all nodded with mutters of "ok", and plugged their earphones back in. Alec blasted his music into his ears and closed his eyes, leaning his head on Izzy. Which meant he didn't notice the arrival of the second gang.

"Alec, open your eyes, they're here!" Izzy yanked out his earbud and hissed into his ear. He cracked open his eyes and saw that they had indeed arrived. He saw Luke, embrace his mother and Maryse moved to start making introductions.

He sighed and put away his earbuds, and got up, prompting the rest of the team as well. He scanned the group, eyes widening as Alec realized that the were all a similar age. He had never actually seen the other gang in person.

"This is Alec, my son, our top assassin." Maryse said. He smiled slightly, glancing at his feet. 

"And this is Magnus, our's." Luke replied. Alec looked up and saw him. His first thought was  _'he and Izzy look like they would be best friends.'_ and then it was,  _'wow he's really good looking.'_  

He shook hands with the man, blushing slightly.

"I don't think we've been formally introduced. I'm Magnus. Magnus Bane." Magnus said, smirking slightly. His glittery hair sparkled in the edge of Alec's vision, making him slightly dizzy.  _I have not had enough coffee for this._

"Alec. A-Alec Lightwood." He stammered back. He moved to shake hands with the rest of the other gang. One by one, he learned their names. The curly haired badass was Maia. The silent one was Raphael. The slightly bouncy one was Meliorn and the green haired one was Ragnor. As he predicted, he saw Isabelle hit it off with Magnus, as they started talking about makeup. 

"What do you think?" Sebastian said, creeping up behind him. 

"They seem like a pretty good group. Strange. But good." Alec said, eyeing Magnus. Sebastian followed his gaze and a smirk curled onto his face.

"See something you like?" He sniggered as Alec blushed.

"Shut up." Alec replied snarkily. 

"Who are we shutting up?" Clary chimed in.

"Clary, my little sister. Alec here has-"

"Alec has requested another black coffee and if Sebastian doesn't buy it for him he will steal his favourite gun." Alec cut in smoothly. Sebastian sniggered again but promptly shut up and walked over to Starbucks.

"This is going to be a long trip."

\--

10 hours later, the two groups of killer millenials were in front of a large, inviting villa overlooking the ocean. It wasn't far away from a village where Valentine Morgenstern's mansion presided, and of course, it was where the wedding venue would be. 

"It's beautiful!" Izzy yelled. She rushed to the back of the house and everyone heard a loud squeal.

"I swear to god, she's actually normally a lot scarier than this." He muttered to Maia. Maia snickered, but she obviously had heard the tales of the Lightwood daughter who had slit Camille Belcourt's throat with a whip.

"It's a cliff! That lands into the ocean! There's a sign that says cliff jumping is safe!" Isabelle yelled.

"Ok that's super cool." Maia admitted.

"Drop your stuff off first, and then you can have a few hours of getting to know each other." Maryse yelled back. Alec entered the house and his jaw dropped. As an assassin, a lot of the Angels' high class contacts would have them at their fancy galas and extravagant parties, but this house was  _big._ It had a large living room with a massive couch and coffee table, with a large screened television. The dining room was connected to the kitchen, and there was a grand staircase leading to the upper levels. Alec was going to go find the best room before everyone else, and saw Magnus Bane had has the same idea. Their eyes locked for a split second and they both sprinted up the stairs with their duffel bags. They saw the room at the end of the hall and paused and locked eyes again.

"Mine." Magnus spat, his golden eyes almost lulling Alec into saying yes. _Almost._

"Never." Alec snapped back, and he rushed for it, throwing his duffel in front of Magnus to slow him down. Magnus dropped his bag as well and jumped over Alec's, sprinting at Alec and tackling him. They both went down and Magnus was on top of Alec.

"No fair!" Alec yelled, and flipped them over, and tried to get up. Magnus pulled him back down.

"If you wanted me under you, all you had to do was ask." Magnus taunted, and flipped them over again, pinning the taller man down. Alec used his legs and kicked upwards knocking Magnus off him temporarily and rolled onto Magnus. 

"It's got the best view; it's mine." Alec hissed. Magnus circled his legs around Alec's waist as he tried to get up, clinging to Alec and pulling him down. The two locked eyes, and Magnus's mouth curled into a smirk.

"Well, I think the best view is right in front of me." He purred, and pressed his forehead to Alec's, their lips centimetres apart. Alec was shocked, and he felt his ears go red. It was too late when he realized what Magnus was doing, and Magnus flipped off of him, using Alec's body as leverage, and ambled into the room. He winked and then closed the door.

Alec stood there for a good twenty seconds before he heard the giggles. He turned around to see everyone stifling laughs. When he groaned, they all burst out laughing.

"Congratulation, you played yourself." Jace said, from behind his phone. 

"Shut up or I'll slice off your tongue." Alec groaned, and nabbed the second best room. 

\--

An hour later, once everyone was showered and refreshed, they met in the kitchen, all leaning over the kitchen island.

"Hello Alexander." Magnus said smoothly. "I must say, the view from the villa is extraordinary. Wouldn't you say?" This brought around a fresh bout of laughs, Maryse and Luke looking confused.

"H-how did you know my name was Alexander? Nobody calls me that." He muttered, not looking up from his hands.

"A guess. And I call you that!" He smiled winningly. "So what's the mission plan?" 

The mood in the room immediately went from playful to serious. Alec looked up from his hands, his face all diplomacy.

Magnus thought it was kinda hot.

"Alright." Luke started. "We're here to kill Valentine. It's to be a quick process. The thing is, he knows that he has enemies all over America. This is why he came to a more remote area in Italy. His house is called Edom, and it's the mansion on the very edge of the cliff on the other side of the village. Edom is heavily guarded by his own detail. There are little to no blind spots when it comes to cameras, and his systems are all heavily fortified, physically and digitally."

"So, like, Fort Knox." Simon rang out. Luke nodded.

"At the moment, Valentine is not in Italy. He has gone to Russia for a meeting about how much of his yin fen is being distributed to crackheads." Maryse chimed in. "But it's still heavily guarded. If everything goes to plan, he'll have a knife in his throat by August. And I'll be married."

2 and a half months.

Magnus saw Maryse glance at Luke concernedly, and cleared his throat.

"Are there any-um- personal vendettas against Valentine?" 

Luke's eyes darkened angrily. Magnus also saw the Angel's glance at Sebastian and Clary, the siblings.

"He got my best friend, Jocelyn, and my sister Amatis hooked on it in the experimental stage. Just a few years after she gave birth to Sebastian, and then Clary, she died because she had too much and it poisoned her system."

"Clary and Sebastian are Valentine's children?" Raphael barked. "Direct ties to the target?"

"Clary and I ran away from Valentine when we were 13 and have been loyal to the Angels ever since. I'm here to slit his throat, not go fishing on father son trips." Sebastian snarled. Clary put a hand on his shoulder, whispering something into his ear, and he visibly calmed down. Raphael nodded, but his lips were pressed into a thin line.

"Our first mission is to just scout the area. We need blueprints of the area. Simon could hack the inside blueprints, but I want every exit and entrance, camera and window on the outside marked. We start in two days. But till then, get to know each other. We're each other's family for two and a half months." Maryse said sternly, and her heels click clacked away.

They were silent for a bit. Magnus finally understood the gravity of the mission. The gang assassinations were normally cold. Emotionless. No ties. 

Now they had a murderer on their hands.

"We have a lovely cliff to jump off of. 25 meters into clear calm ocean with a ladder back up. Who's in?

\--

Turns out everyone was in.

In five minutes, all the girls and boys were decked out in their swimwear. Isabelle was the first to jump, dropping her towel and sunglasses and taking a running jump, gracefully swan diving and flipping in the air, and splashing into the water below.

"Come on guys! It's beautiful!" Isabelle squealed from below. Maia pulled off her tank top, her white bikini in stark contrast with her dark skin, and she jumped off with a resounding "GERONIMO!"

Jace and Clary jumped next, then Sebastian, then Lydia, then Simon, and then Bat and Meliorn. Then it was was left with Raphael, Magnus and Alec. 

Alec glanced down the cliff. It was a 25 meter drop into clear water. But he was slightly adamant about the height.

"I'm not jumping. I'm going to read." Raphael proclaimed, and plopped himself down on the grassy cliff. Simon had climbed back up, hair dripping everywhere. Magnus noticed Raphael glancing at Simon and his abs and grinned evilly. 

"Sherwin, tell Raphael that he should go into the water." Magnus said, smirking at the evil glare Raphael threw his way.

"It's Simon. And the water is so nice and refreshing! The jump is so fun as well. Come on, Santiago!" Simon pleaded, puppy dog eyes wide.

"No."

The bottom lip.

"No."

"Please?"

"Fine!" Raphael threw his book down. "But I'm not holding your hand and I'm doing this once!"

He promptly jumped in.

"Good one, Sherman." Magnus smiled. "He'll do it again."

"It's Simon. Now tell me, does Raphael like boys? I'm pansexual."

"Hi pansexual, I'm bisexual." Magnus joked.

Simon chuckled. "That might be the gayest dad joke I've ever heard. I know a gay dad!" He looked at Alec jovially, who wasn't paying attention, chewing his lip as he looked down at the edge. Magnus walked away from Simon and next to Alec.

"Jump with me, pretty boy?" Magnus said. He held his hand out for Alec to take. The taller man kept worrying at his lip, glancing nervously from the hand to the drop below him, but he took the hand cautiously. 

"If I die I'm going to haunt you." Alec warned. Magnus chuckled as he laced his fingers through Alec's.

And they jumped.

\--

They played around the cliff for hours. Raphael had in fact jumped again. And again.

And he did end up holding hands with Simon (and Meliorn), when they all went in together.

Meliorn had managed a double flip before promptly belly flopping with a loud SMACK! against the water. 

"My abs are stinging!" Meliorn groaned. 

"Idiota." Raphael snarked without missing a beat, not glancing up from his book.

"Love you too."

Alec had jumped again, multiple times, some with Magnus, some with Isabelle, and some by himself. The first time he had gone by himself, Isabelle, Jace and Magnus clapped for him, waiting at the bottom. Maia and Lydia had chased Bat around with a water gun, all the aiming on point (they were assassins,  _duh)_

"They're all in their twenties, but it feels a bit like children, doesn't it?" Luke said fondly, lacing his hand with Maryse's as they watched from the back porch.

"They all just clicked. It's a great team." Maryse said, smiling softly.

"After all this is over, we'll be married, and they'll be our family." Luke murmured.

They watched as the hard-hearted, emotionless assassins that they knew turn into excitable, adorable, twenty year old children, and smiled.

"So Alexander. An Angel." Alec nodded as Magnus sat down on the cliff next to him. "Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"

Alec rolled his eyes and glared at Magnus. "No, I crawled up from hell." 

Magnus was shocked at such a quick comeback, but masked it with a beaming smile.

"So that's why you're so fucking hot." He cheered inwardly when he saw the blush on Alec's cheeks.

"Stop charming the pants off my poor big brother." Jace chimed.

"I could kill you both with a pair of earphones." Alec muttered.

"I could kill you with wireless earphones." Jace shot back.

"I could shoot you accurately from 50 feet away with a butter knife." Alec sniped.

"Fine." Jace snapped.

"Fine!" Alec snapped back.

They glared at each other until they simultaneously stuck their tongues out.

"You guys are immature." Magnus commented.

"Oh, bite me."

"Gladly."

He laughed when Alec choked.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!  
> Bookmarks and kudos, please, the next chap will be up shortly :)


End file.
